Playing Pretend
by SilverSpirals
Summary: Sometimes pranks don't turn out right. This one doesn't, yet it does. Pre-Timeskip Sasuke/OC Fluff (One-shot takes place before the Chuunin Exams)


"Naruto, you were right, this ramen really is good!" Akemi beamed at him from his left, oblivious to the fact that the edges of her long black ponytail were soaking up some soup remnants from the empty bowl in front of her. "Another bowl of miso ramen, please!"

"Coming right up!" shouted Teuchi-san.

Naruto chuckled and turned to face her on the adjacent stool. "Heh, Ichiraku's ramen is the best, Akemi-chan! I knew you would like it!" he grinned brightly. "So Akemi-chan, want to train some more with me after lunch? Then we can go find Sasuke and give him a taste of our training dattebayo!"

Akemi smiled. "Sure! Then I finally beat that smirk off his face. Honestly…why are all my friends so excited over him…he's not that attractive. No one else wants to hang out with me anymore because they're all stalking Sasuke-_kun_," she mimicked.

"What's so great about that guy anyways…what does Sakura-chan see in him?" Naruto asked in an equally sulky manner, more to himself than to Akemi.

"Oh look, there he is," she said, peeking out from her chair and watching Sasuke's sluggish approach. "Hey there, duckbutt!" she called with a short cheery wave, causing Naruto to snort into his ramen. Even from afar she was able to see the angry tick mark on the raven-haired boy's forehead, hair sticking out as usual. Akemi giggled. "He needs a new haircut, don't you think, Naruto?"

"No doubt he does, he looks stupid!" replied Naruto, not bothering to spare his rival a glance. "Hehe, let's chop off his hair, Akemi-chan!"

"Oh Naruto," Akemi laughed, picturing a bald Sasuke. "That's going too far, though."

Naruto pouted. "Aw, you're no fun. Okay, how 'bout taping his hair?"

"And then take a picture…" Akemi nodded her head pensively.

"Good idea!"

"Payback from all the times he's shamed me and my training!" Akemi replied, shaking her fist with a resolute expression on her face.

"Saa, Akemi-chan, you sneak into his room tonight and take the picture. If Sakura-chan finds out I pranked Sasuke, then…" he laughed nervously, imagining a furious Sakura-chan punching him high into the clear skies of Konoha. "Also, Sasuke won't get mad because it's you pranking him, dattebayo!"

"Ehhh? What's that supposed to mean?" replied Akemi, eyebrows furrowing inquisitively.

Naruto chuckled. "Don't mind me, Akemi-chan. Here, if you do it, I'll treat you to…" he thought for a moment. "-six bowls of ramen, dattebayo!" He held up six fingers for her to see.

"Hmmmm. Hmmmmmmmm…fine, fine, I'll do it," Akemi agreed finally.

"Yes! I knew you'd agree to it, Akemi-chan!"

"Do what? What are you two losers up to now?" said a voice, no doubt annoyed from a certain name-calling occurrence.

Akemi and Naruto both jumped and turned around to see the intended victim, who had just arrived behind the two guilty conspirators. "B-betsuni, Sasuke! We were just talking about…eto…jutsus!" Akemi said a little too loudly.

"Yep!" Naruto nodded vigorously, bright blue eyes staring nervously into Akemi's frantic brown ones. "I-I was going to teach her how to do one of my jutsus!"

"Right," said Sasuke with a knowing smirk. "So, which jutsu are you learning, _shorty_?" he gazed at her expectantly.

"Stop calling me that!" she yelled, struggling to think up a jutsu in the midst of his widening smirk. What should they say? Sasuke knew they had all learned Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, but perhaps he could be teaching her how to make larger quantities of clones.

"Oh! I know!" declared Naruto.

_Naruto's saving me!_

"-Sexy no Jutsu dattebayo!"

_N-NARUTO!_ Akemi blanched. _Of all jutsus…_

Sasuke's onyx eyes narrowed as he stared Naruto down.

Akemi watched his expression. Did he look…angry? Then again, Sasuke was never one to be overly emotional. In fact, she had never once seen him smile. _What am I doing; I have to back up Naruto!_ "Y-yep!" she affirmed, cringing and sinking down even further into the stool.

Naruto laughed nervously, scratching his head, while Akemi melted slowly into a puddle from embarrassment. Sasuke simply stayed quiet, as if hoping that silence might have been able to help him comprehend the absurdity of the situation.

Akemi decided not to wait for the awkwardness to reach new levels. "Jaa, Naruto, don't we need to go train now?" She jumped off the stool, followed by Naruto.

"Right! Let's go, Akemi-chan!" He dashed off, Akemi one step ahead of him.

"Bye Sasuke!" Akemi yelled, leaving Sasuke in the dust to wonder what she would be up to next.

_Not like I should care_, he dismissed, walking off with his hands in his pockets.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A dark figure slipped quietly through the window and landed lightly onto the floor, without making a sound. Akemi paused, surveying the foreign contours of the room. It was practically barren, as she expected of Sasuke, save for the essential closet and drawer set lurking in the dark corner like some sort of evil entity. Specks of moonlight and leaf shadows dappled a white-wall canvass, painting a wavering black-and-white masterpiece that would serve as her light source for the night. And, of course, there was the bed in which laid her target.

Cautiously, Akemi took a step forward, and almost slipped and did the splits. _What does he do, wax the floors or something? I'm not Lee, I can't do amazing taijutsu acrobatics_. She shrugged visibly. _Maybe I should ask him to teach me a few tricks so I don't kill myself tripping. Ah, what am I thinking at a time like this?!_

Akemi steadied herself and refocused on her prey, who was turned away from her. "Sasuke?" Akemi whispered quietly towards the bed. No response. She could hear his soft and steady breathing. _Safe._ She smirked, and crept tentatively over the creaky floorboards, watching her steps as if she were walking on slippery ice. Slowly, she made her way to the side of the bed and peered down at his sleeping form.

He was entirely covered by the sheets save for his head, his hair sticking out even more than usual from his sporadic tossing and turning at night. Trying to ignore the unnatural innocent expression on his sleeping face, Akemi reached into her pajama pockets and pulled out a large roll of duct tape, tearing off a medium-sized piece. Hesitating, she glanced at the sleeping and attractive Sasuke. _He's kind of cute._ A small smile began to spread across her face, but was replaced with a frown out of habit whenever she thought of such scandalous ideas. _He's also a cynical jerk, _she reasoned with herself. Sure he was good-looking and practically a prodigy, but she could never understand how that made up for his aloof and arrogant personality in the eyes of her friends. At one point, she had even hated him because he was so cruel to Naruto. Yet lately, Sasuke hadn't been _as_ bad as before, as she noted while continuing to work with him in Team 7 under Kakashi-sensei. Sometimes, she would see the human in him, the part in which he actually had a heart for something other than revenge. _Focus…_ she silently scolded herself. _What the heck am I doing even…Naruto better give me twenty bowls for this! _Akemi shut her eyes, and opened them with an air of finality. _Well, here we go!_

In the blink of an eye, Akemi lunged forward and grabbed his hair as discreetly as possible, successfully taping all of his annoying duckbutt hair to the back of his head. _Quick, picture!_ She whipped out the large camera and took the photo with a loud snap, pocketing the small square of laminated paper safely in the breast pocket of her pajama shirt. _Yes! Suck it, duckbutt! _Now it didn't really matter whether he woke up or not, as long as she could escape beforehand. Slowly she backed away, feeling positively victorious for getting an embarrassing picture of Sasuke (that would soon mysteriously find its way on every single building wall and post in Konoha).

"Akemi" said a voice that caused all the color to drain from her face.

Suddenly there was loud thud and an even louder "ITTAI!" Sasuke scrambled to the edge of his bed. He peered down at Akemi, who was currently collapsed on the floor in an awkward position and was struggling to get up. The camera lay dropped on the bed in front of her.

"God! Why the hell is your floor like this, Sasuke?!" Akemi huffed, finally achieving the extremely difficult task of sitting cross-legged and puffing the bangs out of her face. She knew she could have used chakra, but she wanted to conceal it as much as possible and not use it at all; this, of course, causing her to lose what little traction she could have had on a floor as slippery as this was.

"'What the hell are you doing in my house?' and 'Why the hell are you putting tape in my hair?' are more like it," he snorted, highly irritated yet slightly amused she had the guts to swagger in like some crafty burglar. She should know better than to break into Sasuke Uchiha's house of all people. Then again, Akemi wasn't particularly like most girls. Admittedly enough, she was no less than bold, brave, and hardworking. Coming from the no-name Kaneshiro clan, Akemi had to train harder than others to become acknowledged as a potential ninja. At the academy, she was average at first, but later made a name for herself by once scoring higher than Sasuke on a practical jutsu test, making her the top of the class for the first time (and thus sparking her determination to beat him again and wipe those seemingly-permanent smirks off his face whenever he saw her fail). On top of that, her personality (the one in which she wasn't bickering with him) was actually quite sunny and innocent, and no one truly disliked her. Nothing really dampened her spirit. Even when Sasuke insulted her she was rarely affected. Akemi was also unpredictable, and considering her actions tonight, had proven herself to be just that.

Akemi wondered for a moment if she could make up some sort of quick cover story, but decided otherwise as she became aware of his penetrating stare. "Well, earlier today, Naruto and I weren't talking about him teaching me about that…jutsu…" she trailed off, looking back at him through the moonlit room.

"I figured that much, shorty," he retorted, masking his relief with a frown and earning a narrow-eyed glare.

"A_nyway duckbutt_-" she inhaled: "We-were-wondering-what-your-hair-looked-like-when-it-wasn't-sticking-out-so-we-decided-we-should-tape-it-down-and-take-a-picture-and-Naruto-told-me-he'd-treat-me-to-six-bowls-of-ramen-if-I-did-it-because-he-couldn't-because-Sakura-would-get-mad-at-him-anyway-I'll-just-be-leaving-bye!" She waved at him cutely and skidded towards the window like a figure skater, forgetting about the fact that she could now freely use her chakra to stabilize herself.

In a flash Sasuke had crossed the floor, swept her up in his arms, and deposited her neatly onto his bed in a messy heap. "HEY!" she yelled, as he artfully dodged her swipes.

"You're not going anywhere, you pathetic loser," he said bluntly, returning from turning on the light switch and towering over her. Usually he would want her to leave, but getting some well-deserved revenge seemed to be the higher priority at the moment. "And considering what position you're in, it doesn't look like you should be calling me names."

Akemi simply glared, eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Then her irritated expression faltered when she realized that the duct tape was still there. Her lips trembled a little as she struggled not to laugh.

Following her gaze, Sasuke reached slowly to the back of his head and deliberately peeled off the crooked piece of tape. Akemi straightened up in apprehension of what he would do next. _He's always so unreadable_.

"…Duct tape?" he inquired judgingly, holding the piece out in front of him.

_Oh, so he's not being entirely serious, _Akemi realized, still aggravated at the amused expression that now graced his handsome features. "Duct tape for your duckbutt hair~" she sang, knowing full well that she would annoy him. "Would you rather I glued your hair to the back of your head?"

Sasuke scoffed. She seemed to be exceptionally cheeky tonight, but that was fine; he could match that easily and go even further if he wanted to. Besides, he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas never lost. "Like you could ever do that to me, loser."

"Oh really? I just broke into your house, and taped your hair with duct tape, which was very expensive and hard to find I might add-"

"Because I let you."

She frowned. "I concealed my chakra well...what'd I do wrong?"

"You smell like flowers," said Sasuke in a disgusted tone. Like he would ever admit that the faint floral fragrance emanating from her long black hair was mildly attracting him. "It's windy out," he added shortly.

"Ah…I see…" Akemi giggled. "I can't believe the shampoo Naruto got me ended up giving me away."

_Wait, what? _Sasuke knew Akemi and Naruto were good friends, but… "Oi."

"What do you want now?"

"Why is that idiot giving you gifts?"

"Why should I tell you?"

He let out a frustrated groan. "Just answer the question."

"Anything for you, Sasuke-_kun_," she replied sweetly. And Sasuke felt the blood rush to his cheeks against his will. He always despised the strange and foreign feelings he got when he was around her, and this time was no exception.

Luckily, Akemi didn't seem to notice. "Naruto wanted to give something nice to Sakura, so he bought some bath products and tried to give them to her. Naturally, she called him a pervert and wouldn't take them, and the poor guy couldn't return them. So, he offered some to me, and I took them because they're useful and I was running low anyways. There. Happy now? " she crossed her arms and frowned defiantly. "I'll be going then." She made a motion to leave, but he grabbed her shoulder.

Sasuke said nothing. He stared at Akemi with such intensity that she felt it burn right through her like fire. Still her chocolate brown eyes gazed back deep into his onyx ones, remaining level and steadfast as he leaned in, so close that their noses were almost touching. "As I said before, _you_…_can't_…_leave_," he whispered slyly.

It was Akemi's turn to blush, and she felt her heart race uncontrollably from both his proximity and his words. His warm breath tickled her lips, making her more uncomfortable than she ever imagined it would. "A-and w-why can't I?" she asked, silently cursing herself for stuttering and showing weakness.

So he did have an effect on her.

Sasuke drew back triumphantly, twiddling a small white square of paper between his fingers. Akemi blanched. "You!" she leaned forward and jabbed his chest. "You took that from my breast pocket you pervert!" she shouted.

He shrugged. "You're a terrible ninja, and it's not like there's anything there anyway," he continued, watching Akemi's face grow more and more scarlet with both rage and embarrassment.

"I'll be leaving now," she declared once more in a dangerously calm manner. "And I'll be taking that picture."

Sasuke paused for a moment, thinking. "I'll give you the picture-" he started, "-in exchange for another one. Stop getting ideas, I'm not a pervert, idiot," he ordered, noticing her raised eyebrow and judging stare. Sasuke scooted on to the bed next to her with his back against the wall, swiping up the camera which had fallen onto his bed earlier. He held it up in front of him with one arm, gazing at both his and Akemi's reflections in the lens.

Akemi looked too. _I wonder if we would look good together…as…a couple…_ It's not like she hadn't thought about it before. She wondered if he ever thought about something like this, or if his mind was still too occupied with revenge. It was probably the latter. "Why do you want to take a picture with me?" she asked, puzzled.

"Shut up and smile."

"Only if you do," she challenged.

"…Fine."

"I don't believe you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. There was just no winning with this girl. Sighing, he placed his finger on the button and readied the camera. He pushed down…

Then Akemi did the unimaginable.

She punched him.

"Oi! What was that for, stupid?!"

"You're not smiling, _stupid_!" she imitated, picking up the dropped camera to take a look at the picture. Akemi's tiny frame shook with laughter. "I'll be taking this one too! This is proof I successfully punched the great Sasuke Uchiha."

"I can't believe you did all this just to get six bowls of ramen," he said irritably, sitting up and rubbing his cheek. He groaned. Tomorrow there would be a visible bruise, and the girls would be all over him about it. Sasuke looked over to Akemi, who was positively sparkling with excitement.

Suddenly he lunged for the picture.

Akemi was ready this time, creating a blur of white as she expertly whipped it out of reach. "Nice try, loser," she teased. She leapt off the bed and slid carelessly across the floor towards the open window.

Sasuke was now leaning against the bed, casually twirling the first embarrassing picture between his fingers. "I think we both know who the real loser is," he commented, straightening up to face her small, shadowy figure. Stealthily, they circled each other, both instinctively searching their surroundings and analyzing the others' movements. They stopped, their places switched.

"Is that really all you have for a comeback?"

The corners of Sasuke's mouth turned up a little. Only this girl would be so readily stubborn and provoking towards him, treating him as the arrogant jerk that he was in front of her, rather than an as some unreachable idol that had everything.

Akemi stared. _Wait_. _Is he actually…_

Sasuke took her distraction as an opening and charged, knocking her onto the bed and causing the camera to fly somewhere into oblivion with a loud clatter.

"You see," he began cockily, pinning her wrists down as she struggled, "a not-terrible ninja would never let herself be tricked by such a simple ploy. A not-terrible ninja would never let herself be overpowered so easily like you are right now. A _not-terrible_ ninja would never let any item of her own get stolen, like this picture that is now _mine_." Sasuke hovered over her small frame, his right hand on one side of her head and his left holding the little white square of incriminating evidence. Boy was he winning at this.

"Okay, okay, I'm a terrible ninja." She rolled her eyes, Sasuke's right arm suddenly becoming very interesting. Akemi was sure he was taking enjoyment in her discomfort. She wouldn't-no, she couldn't let him realize the extent of her vulnerability. "Now let me go or so help me I will make you die a thousand deaths," she growled, shooting him a signature Akemi Death Glare no Jutsu.

Sasuke smirked.

"Make me."

Akemi lashed out fiercely, twisting out from under the weight of his knees on her legs and kicking them away. Surprised by the tiny girl's brute strength, Sasuke focused on gripping her wrists with much difficulty, yet Akemi quickly countered his moves, kneeing him in the stomach and causing his grip to loosen from pain.

And then, finally losing his balance, Sasuke fell down on top of her. Crashing their lips together in the most _awkward _sort of way possible.

Akemi's eyes widened, yet she impulsively stopped struggling, losing herself in the sudden pressure that warmed her frosty lips. A tickling sensation of what felt like the smoldering of flames spread throughout her body as she stared deep into his onyx orbs, engulfing her heart with a rush of warmth. Sasuke wore an equally shocked expression as a flood of mixed emotions washed over him, overwhelming all of his senses and causing his pulse to quicken abruptly.

How strange it was to feel such intense feelings in a mere half-second.

Quickly they broke apart, Sasuke springing backward off the bed like a freaked-out cat and Akemi side-jumping onto the slippery floor.

Silence. Both stood their ground, glaring at each other as if daring the other to just try something next.

"It's your fault," they said in unison, Sasuke with crossed arms and Akemi with an accusatory finger pointed at his chest. They t'ched, eyes narrowed at each other.

"Well, I'll be going then," Akemi stated after what seemed like an eternity of awkward staring, rocking back and forth on her toes as some sort of self-comforting gesture.

"…Yeah," he nodded shortly.

Akemi quickly gathered up the three pictures that were scattered on the bed from the uncomfortable altercation, wondering why he wasn't stopping her from taking them. She sighed to herself. No doubt she'd be staying up all night (well, early morning now) agonizing over what happened in mere seconds. She dreaded the training session she would have to attend in a few hours, because _he_ would be there, and then they'd either have to actually talk to each other, or ignore each other forever.

Sasuke observed her uncharacteristically-frazzled demeanor and sighed. "Want me to…see you home?" he offered irritably, regretting his words immediately and wondering why the hell he just asked the stupidest question on the planet. This was not Sasuke Uchiha. After all, girls wanted _him_ to walk them home, not the other way around.

_What is he getting at? _Akemi wondered, puzzled by his sudden request_. _She looked over to him as he twitched in discomfort and annoyance. Perhaps he wasn't all that bad. He could be nice if he wanted to, even if it was on accident. _Or maybe I just want it to be that way. _She wouldn't put it past him to be planning to trick her.

_Yet, he seems genuine this time. _

Akemi took a deep breath and calmed herself. She smiled slightly. "It's okay, I'll be fine, Sasuke-_kun_," she teased, clapping her hand on his shoulder as she passed by. "Night then duckbutt! See you tomorrow!" she shouted, leaping neatly out the open window. Maybe, just this once, she thought, she would let herself believe in his sincerity.

Sasuke could hear the loud pattering of footsteps on the roof tiles and rolled his eyes at her lack of thought towards the villagers (and the nickname). Well, like he really cared at the moment.

His mind was occupied with something else…

As for the pictures, perhaps he might pay a little visit to her house tomorrow night. She should know by now that he would never let her win.

Sasuke turned off the light and walked quietly to the bed, plopping down on the edge. He could still smell her faint rosy fragrance lingering in the room. He closed his eyes, listening to the silence.

A tiny flicker of a smile – a real smile, spread involuntarily across his face. _That idiot Kaneshiro_. Maybe, just this once, he thought, he would let himself like her. Soon enough it would be back to teasing each other and one-upping each other and hating each other and pretending to hate each other anyway.

"Night, shorty."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

Hi there! Thanks for making it all the way down here to chat with me! xD

Some brief background on how I came up with this very strange idea that turned into fluff: This story ended up being the result of a conversation I had with one of my good friends, in which we were talking about the character of Sasuke…and one thing led to another, to the point where we were wondering what it would look like if we taped Sasuke's hair to the back of his head… (clearly we have very interesting conversations…ehehehe)

One thing I should note to myself is that duct tape may or may not exist in the Naruto world…yet I couldn't resist writing that cheesy quip Akemi sings at Sasuke just to annoy him. :D

Also, I hope I made it fluffy enough for you! For me Sasuke's difficult to write for fluff, since it's hard to imagine him doing anything that would count as potential fluff-material during his preteen/beginning teen years. Overall I attempted to keep Sasuke as the proud Uchiha that he is, while showing an awkward unusual side to him as he struggles with these new and foreign feelings. Hopefully I was able to capture his personality and that he didn't come off as OOC…

As for Akemi, I wanted her to have a contrasting personality from Sasuke, a little more carefree and childish because I wanted to bring that out in Sasuke. I felt he needed a little fun and unpredictability in his life, just a little. If I ever write something with the two of them grown up, I want to show the change in Akemi's personality as she grows older.

Anyways, don't mind me and my weird thought ramblings…and thank you for taking the time to read my work! I really appreciate it! Please let me know what you think! ^^

-SilverSpirals


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